NSFAS expenditure rises over 10 years

Cape Town
- The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) loan system has
risen by more than 600% for universities and a 17 900% for Technical and
Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges in the past ten years.

In a statement, the Department of Higher Education and
Training showed that total outlays via NSFAS in support of students at
universities and colleges from poor and lower income families grew twelvefold
from R 1.755-billion in 2007 to R 22.307-billion in 2016.

The figures are contained in a response by Minister Blade Nzimande
to a Parliamentary Question tabled this week.

“These figures make crystal clear that post school education
and training has been and continues to be an absolute focus and priority of the
ANC government,” said Nzimande.

“Working together with Treasury, we have put a massive
effort into ensuring that all those from disadvantaged backgrounds who have the
ability can in fact get to university and college, and even greater effort into
ensuring that those who either don’t qualify for or choose not to go to
university or college can gain the training and skills they need to become full
participants in the economy.”

The department stated that the rise in spending showed that
Government had fulfilled one of the key promises of ANC policy and had opened
the doors of learning to all.

Post-School Education and Training (PSET) continued to be a
massive empowerment tool, ensuring that individuals, families, and communities
could benefit from the better prospects provided through skills and
qualifications.

When presenting his department’s Budget Vote in Parliament
in May, Nzimande said despite the cynicism of critics, since 2013 to date, more
than two million students studying at South Africa’s public universities
and TVET colleges have been funded by NSFAS.

He said since its inception as the Tertiary Education Fund
of South Africa (TEFSA) in 1991, NSFAS has awarded about R72 billion in loans
and bursaries.

“A total of 194 353 university students have thus far been
supported in the 2017 academic year, with 78 413 covering first time entrances
and 115 940 returning students. Similarly, 123 332 TVET college students have
already received support this year. NSFAS is one of the most significant
success stories in the history of a democratic South Africa,” Nzimande said at the
time